twmac

This doesn't take into account removable storage devices and the larger save file sizes on a console or the fact that the console might not have a storage device to write to at all or limited space to write to in the first place. The XBLIG scene is a very different one as it is peer review, a lot of the time the people reviewing this don't take into account the severity of each of the requirements (the Title safe area requirement does not exist for XBLA or disc games and hasn't for almost 5 years) some of the things that developers on that platform, who should know better, have failed other people's games is ridiculous (the bullying of the zombie avatar massager guys comes to mind). If by smartly chosen you mean 'not representative of the requirements as a whole so as to mislead the average user into thinking that the platform holders are insane' then I can agree with that. Your example of the boot up sequence: there is a requirement that says that it must take no longer than 20 seconds to reach the Press START screen, this is exactly in line with your complaint. However, developers and publishers have pushed back on this requirement saying that it is unfeasible. In order to placate them and get the games out this requirement has been relaxed over the years with exceptions for legally required screens (developer and publisher logos), the auto save message was another compromise (note it is the developer's decision to put it in the boot up sequence rather than waiting until after a storage device has been chosen) when developers wanted to make the saving messages more artistically in line with their game and use icons instead. Blow doesn't mention requirements like making sure that the game handles Ethernet cable disconnection, gamer profile sign-outs, minimum bandwidth requirements, and not displaying debug throughout your game as well as countless others that every single developer I have ever encountered fail and actually do real damage to a user's experience. Several of the requirements have even evolved due to customer complaints (Title Updates and Save transfers for example), the violent reaction to the Guitar Hero patch is one example as well as people complaining about modified save files.

What about removing a storage device during a write? What if the write takes more than a couple of seconds (Games that save upwards of 40MB in one go can cause writes of 10 seconds or more)?

No it is not a requirement, communicating a save action is. However, if like what Blow describes occurs in his game then he could file for an exception. All developers published by Microsoft are assigned a release manager and producer. The producer is the one that the developer should have taken advantage of to get the exception (as I mentioned in the article), problem is that too many of the indies see these guys as a pain in the arse rather than an asset to be used. I listened to that Bombcast and it was a group of cert guys not wanting to go into the ins-and-outs, because they can't, being attacked by a developer who didn't really understand what he was talking about. The title safe area requirement is not a universal requirement for the 3 platforms.Sony have it and Microsoft used to. As for the whole 'the platform holders should just incorporate it' it really isn't that simple. If you make all save handling, for example, handled by the system software then you stifle potentially creative uses of it. It would be hard to predict people using things like the Mass Effect and Lost Planet 2 system (both of which read saves from other games to unlock stuff) and incorporating it into the system at inception. Instead the requirements are set up to enforce minimum expectancy but with leeway for negociation. Personally, I think that the Team Meat criticisms are far more important (Microsoft making promises in return for TM meeting certain deadlines and then reneging on all the support) than the 'requirements are annoying' stuff coming from Blow. Anyway, I can't say more than that or I am just going to get myself in trouble.

Started reading this and had to stop, for starters some of what he says is wrong (the message at the beginning of the game that he refers to is not required nor is the screen calibration). Further to that I cannot stand people WHO FEEL THE NEED TO CAPITALISE some of their sentence to PUT EMPHASIS on some points. I find it to be the sign of a bad writer. There is a lot more wrong with it but I am not at liberty to say. I wrote an article that touched on some of this a while back in 2011 (pre-update that made content searches pretty terrible) when Ron Carmel also went on a rant about this: http://www.arcadianr...rmel-of-2d-boy/

I've been using Last.fm for a bit now (yes I am behind as I am sure people are using other, better sites) and it has started making me want to pay for these artists that have provided me with entertainment for free. The thing is, I don't want proprietary formats and I don't want DRM stuff (the ability to transfer the music to any device I wish to). Which is the best site to go with so that I can start giving people my money?

Really appreciate this thread, even though it is heavily loaded against Xbox LIVE. The new interface doesn't bother me all that much. What it has brought to my attention is how I have been neglecting multiplayer way too much in the last year, a service that I enjoy and pay for simply because it better implemented, supported and streamlined than its other console bretheren. After reading this thread I played some Lost Planet 2, then some Iron Brigade (which I plan to finish tonight). Going to line up some Mindjack on Thursday and then dive in to some Gears of War 3 at the weekend and take on some Horde Mode might get some Awesomenauts in at some point with some randoms. So cheers for the reminder I have been far too complacent.

This is all massively helpful, especially in considering my options.

Agh, I saw you Nachmir. I wandered past you chatting to Spaff at one point. great little show.

Hmm, well I am in England so that backup thing is a bit of a nuisance. Like I said, I am prone to destroying/losing the laptop I am using on an irregular basis so I should probably look into a portable solution. The reason I like Last Fm so much is that it doesn't allow me to play it safe and I am forever listening to artists I have never heard of. After years of listening to the same 200-300 cds and rarely buying anything new (the last album I bought was Mouthful of Diamonds by Phantagram and before that Machinehead's Unto the Locust) it is pretty liberating. Good tip on going to the artist's website, Last Fm usually provides a link so I will go there before resorting to Amazon.

Absolutely agree with Thainatos. Played through the game and some of the places it goes narratively are pretty jaw dropping. It reminds me of a more competently made Kane & Lynch (for what it is trying to do with mechanics and how they tell a story). A co-worker is complaining about the lack of recoil and feel to the weapons, which I think is fair but other than that the game is really solid. Worth the money to see where they went with it and an utter surprise to me as I had expected another Call of Duty/Army of Two game.

Nice, last fm links to them directly and I already have an account. Does this mean I can download it from anywhere once the purchase has been linked to my account? I tend to have things like getting my laptop destroyed/stolen on a fairly regular basis (1-2 years)

All the same still very much enjoyed the game and look forward to the next installment, especially after the killer final moments

Interesting way of implementing a 'don't sell this game' feature. You need the manual and the disc before you can download the demo as you cannot trigger the download from anywhere other than in the main menu. Not much of a fan of Resident Evil games to be honest

Just finished the episode, thoroughly enjoyed it. The main puzzle makes no logical sense though and I have one complaint about characters. However, I am going to wait until more people have played it before venting my frustrations. All the same, well done for creating a better story than the TV series.

The site never went away but welcome to it nonetheless!

New Episode is out today, it is queued up on my X360 for when I get home tonight, cannot wait.

Just finished Blade Kitten, I don't know why. Krome Studios are one of those weird ones. They clearly have a really good group of artists but they have no one who can design a level or combat for shit. Hellboy looked great, played like arse the same can be said of Blade Kitten.

I almost did that with one magic item but was worried about the repercussions. The ending to this game is nuts by the way. It is the equivalent of a someone just taking an idle country drive then turning left off a cliff. I really wished it had been hinted at a little more.

Agree that the soundtrack is awesome (except for excessive amounts of Black Keys who seem pretty generic) I was going to write an article just about that. The ending is worth playing through until and I absolute loved the 'drive like a nutter and emulate every driving film ever' mentality they went with.

I loved the film, especially as it fun to rewatch and notice so much innocuous dialogue become quite sinister. The book, I don't like so much. There are some creepy things in there and Heinlein has a boner for a military controlled state. One bit that stuck out in my mind was a fight that breaks out between the soldiers and some navy. Admittedly (and kind of disgustingly) the navy start it first but the soldiers destroy them. They are exonerated because they are soldiers and the navy guys should have known not to provoke them. The way it is told is very uncomfortable for me and it coloured a lot of the rest of the book.

I liked it but I read a book very similar to this a while back. I can't remember the name (it might have had the word 'Sea' in the title). It was about a very old man retelling a story from his childhood while also dealing with getting old and returning to the place where the story of his youth took place. The same theme of things getting half-forgotten and then having others corroborating certain things while completely debunking others is in it. Fuck, the novel I wrote has themes along the lines of a character wrapping himself up in the story that he wants to believe while contradicting himself constantly - but I am not published so I don't count. Anyways I clearly enjoyed the book as I lapped it up in the space of an afternoon and it was a proper page turner as it is a topic I am interested in. Look forward to the book cast.

A friend of mine read about his Dwarf Fortress experiences on Arcadian Rhythms, I fucking laughed my arse off all the way through them: http://www.arcadianrhythms.com/tag/smells-like-dwarf-fortress/

Awh, that is too bad. The game starts off tough but the learning curve is steady. The game takes a lull about 3/4 of the way through where the missions don't really deviate from the usual 'Go to from point A to B to kill X of Y'. The challenge is where it is fun and the constant threat of meaningful encounters is great. For example taking on a bunch of harpies and just as you are trouncing them a Griffin flies down and starts duking it out with you. At around the 3/4 mark though I actually started to feel really sorry for the big creatures, a Chimera - once so threatening - can be taken down in about 30 seconds. Fortunately the 'ending' is strong with some bigger and newer challenges throwing themselves up against you and a couple of interesting narrative ideas. The New Game plus actually plays as an extension of the story with the world changing and the creatures you encountering returning to the same challenge that experience when you first start. Night does have an impact, visibility is extremely poor and getting stuck in certain areas without the right equipment will get you into a lot of trouble. Fortunately there is quick save available to keep you trucking along.

Not sure that you can see these as you might have to be friends with me on facebook, but I have been taking pictures of the game through the share feature. I think I got some pretty good ones: Let me know if they are visible and if they aren't, and you are interested I will transfer them over to another site at some point this week.

I finished Yakuza 1 about 2 years ago and yes it is worth playing. Yakuza 3 has a recap of all the major events from 1 and 2 but I have been told that it is also the weakest of the series so it might not be a good starting point. Have Yakuza 3 and 4 sitting at home waiting for a rainy day.